About Septem Lodge
Septem Lodge No.5887 of the Province of Surrey was consecrated on Tuesday, 31st August , 1943 at the Masonic Hall, The Crescent Surbiton
Glenmore House
The Regular Meetings of the Lodge are held at the Masonic Hall,
Surbiton on fourth Thursday in February, fourth Monday in April, fourth
Thursday in September and the third Tuesday in December
Our History
It began in 1942, during the Second World War. The idea was
born in the minds of a group of brethren returning home from a meeting
of the Royal Kingston Lodge at Surbiton. Amongst this group was one,
Douglas James Craig, a Founder and Past Master of the Royal Kingston
Lodge and five other Lodges. He was also a Past Provincial Assistant
Grand Director of Ceremonies of Surrey. It was this brother who took up
the cause and called the first meeting of the Founders on Sunday, 31st
January, 1943 at 11.30 a.m. at the Windmill Hotel, High Road, Chis
wick. The old building has long since disappeared and a new Windmill
Hotel stands on the site but the Founders who remain still remember the
upper room where they met. At this meeting W. Bro. Douglas J. Craig
was elected Chairman and Bro. Norman L. Rabson Secretary. It was agreed
to Found the Lodge in the Province of Surrey and to ask the Royal
Kingston Lodge to sponsor the Petition. A number of names for the
proposed Lodge were considered and eventually it was agreed to name the
Lodge " SEPTEM "-this being the latin for seven-the perfect number. It
seemed most apt because the Founders' aim was "perfection" in the
presentation of the Ritual. It possessed a further significance-the
Lodge being the seventh Lodge of which W. Bro. D. J. Craig was a Founder
The Royal Kingston Lodge agreed to act as sponsor and the Right
Worshipful Provincial Grand Master for Surrey accepted the Petition and
Grand Lodge approved the name and granted the Warrant. It was
unanimously agreed thatW. Bro. Douglas J. Craig should be the Master
Designate-Bro. N. L. Rabson and Bro. L. G. Wills to be Senior and
Junior Wardens Designate respectively. The rest of the officers were
agreed by the Founders and the progression of officers was drawn up by
the Master Designate. The original draft, in his own hand, is still
preserved in the Register of members. It was also agreed by the
Founders that Bro. Rabson should be appointed Secretary of the Lodge
after leaving the Master's Chair and that he should assist with the
secretarial duties whilst passing through the Senior Warden's and
Master's Chairs.
The Minutes of the Meetings of the Founders, Lodge and Committees are
all written by his hand and it is also of interest to note that W. Bro.
N. L. Rabson has been present at every meeting since the Founders first
met on the 31st January, 1943.
Many gifts have been made to the Lodge by members in the past
twenty-five years, the most interesting of which are the Officer's
Jewels which were presented by the Founders whose names are engraved on
the reverse side.
The Consecration took place on Tuesday, 31st August, 1943 at the
Masonic Hall, The Crescent, Surbiton in the presence of 92 brethren.
This colourful and dignified Ceremony was conducted by R. W. Bro. Lt.
Col. H. A. Mann, O.B.E., M.C., Provincial Grand Master for Surrey,
assisted by W. Bro. H. B. Longley, F.S.I., P.G.D., and W. Bro. A. H.
Harding, P.G.D., Assistant Provincial Grand Masters. At the conclusion
of the Consecration Ceremony the R. W. Provincial Grand Master
installed W. Bro. D. J. Craig in the Chair of the new Lodge as the
First Master.
Since the foundation of the Lodge one hundred and fifteen candidates
have been Initiated, the first of whom was W. Bro. C. W. Coles, and
twelve brethren admitted as Joining Members. Of the Initiates, seven
(two of whom were blood brothers) were sons of members of the Lodge,
two others were blood brothers and a father and son.
| J. N. Rabson |
Initiated 1951 |
Son of N. L. Rabson |
| P. H. Davies | Initiated 1951 | Son of H. E. Davies |
| D. J. Davies | Initiated 1953 | Son of H. E. Davies |
| A. B. Foster | Initiated 1963 | Son of R. H. B. Foster |
| P. G. H. Roberts | Initiated 1964 | Son of G. F. Roberts |
| E. A. R. North | Initiated 1965 | Son of A. S. North |
| E. Carter | Initiated 1965 | Son of W. Carter |
Brothers J. N. Rabson, A. B. Foster, E. A. R. North and E. Carter were
Initiated by their respective fathers. Brothers P. H. and D. J. Davies
are blood brothers. Brothers V. R. Evans was Initiated in 1952 and his
blood brother, J. G. Evans, three years later. Brother A. A. Hawkins
and his son, J. A. Hawkins, were Initiated together. A. S. North was
Master of the Lodge when he Initiated his son.
The death of the First Master, Douglas J. Craig, in August,
1948, five years after the Consecration was a tragedy of no mean
magnitude for, with his passing, the Lodge lost a good friend and wise
counsellor. To perpetuate the memory of that great man and freemason
the Lodge ordered the making of a Lodge Banner and this was Dedicated
on the 7th July, 1945. by R. W. Bro. Lt. Col. H. A. Mann, O.B.E., M.C.,
Provincial Grind Master for Surrey who had Consecrated the Lodge some
six years earlier. It is interesting to note that the Banner bears the
rank-P.P.G.D.C.-after the late W. Bro. Craig's name whereas his rank
was, in actual fact, P.P.A.G.D.C. The error was discovered by the
Provincial Grand Master himself at the Dedication and upon being told
that the inscription would be corrected replied "Leave it - he
deserved the promotion".
The next milestone of importance in the History of the Lodge was the
forging of the bond of friendship with the Septem Lodge, No. 7788, of
Dover in the Province of Kent. This Lodge was Founded in 1962 and the
link was initiated by the First Master of the Dover Lodge who invited
the members of the Septem Lodge of Surrey to attend the Installation
Meeting at Dover in 1963. The First Master, W. Bro. F. H. C. Woollaston
and the Secretary, W. Bro. S. W. Revell were later elected Honorary
Members of this Lodge in recognition of their services. The link has
brought a regular exchange of visits between the Lodges and the
creation, by the Septem Lodge of Surrey, of a team of hospital visitors
who regularly visit Dover brethren and their families when patients in
the Royal Masonic Hospital.
W. Bro N. L. Rabson and W. Bro G. E. Chemineau, who initiated
the team of visitors, were elected Honorary Members of the Septem Lodge
of Dover in 1965.
Many Ladies' Festivals have been held under the Presidency of the
Masters of the Lodge but none stand out in the History of the Lodge
above the first over which W. Bro. D. J. Craig presided. This was held
on the 6th June, 1944 which, as the older members will remember, was "D
DAY", the day the British and their Allies invaded the French Coast in
the last phase of the Second World War. News of the landing came during
dancing and the music stopped whilst the company listened to the news
on a portable radio set. The occasion was made more tense by the
knowledge that the son of the President and Mrs. Craig was thought to
be in one of the landing parties. It was later learned that he did go
over the Channel that night and returned safely.
Of the sixteen Founders of this Lodge only five remain and
these notes must, therefore, be of particular interest to a large
number of members and friends of the Lodge who were not privileged to
be present at the Consecration.
Much more could be written if space would allow but all may be found in
the Minute Books and correspondence of the Lodge which are preserved
for posterity and will be passed to successive Lodge Secretaries that
future historians may be afforded the opportunity of referring to the
records which contain a wealth of information about the Septem Lodge,
No. 5887 and its members